/*
 * This file is part of Catfish.
 * Copyright (C) 2010 Namazu Studios LLC
 * 
 * Catfish is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as 
 * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of 
 * the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * Catfish is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License along with Catfish.  If not, please visit:
 *  
 * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/
 *  
 */
package com.namazustudios.catfish.generator;

import com.google.appengine.api.datastore.Key;

/**
 * Generates identities for objects. These methods are only called if the key
 * object's @Key field is set to null.
 * 
 * @author patricktwohig
 * 
 * @param <T>
 */
public interface IdentityGenerator<T> {

    /**
     * Generates a root id for the given object.
     * 
     * @param object
     * @return
     */
    public Key generateId(T object);

    /**
     * Generates a child ID for the object.
     * 
     * @param parent
     * @param object
     * @return
     */
    public Key generateId(Key parent, T object);

}
